The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXIII, 1629-30

Philippine Islands, 1493-1898,
Volume XXIII, 1629-30, The

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Title: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXIII, 1629-30
Explorations By Early Navigators, Descriptions Of The Islands And
Their Peoples, Their History And Records Of The Catholic Missions,
As Related In Contemporaneous Books And Manuscripts, Showing
The Political, Economic, Commercial And Religious Conditions Of
Those Islands From Their Earliest Relations With European Nations To
The Close Of The Nineteenth Century
Author: Various
Editor: Emma Helen Blair
Release Date: August 6, 2005 [EBook #16451]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898
Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their
peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in
contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political,
economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from
their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the
nineteenth century,
Volume XXIII, 1629-30

Edited and annotated by Emma Helen Blair and James Alexander
Robertson with historical introduction and additional notes by Edward
Gaylord Bourne.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XXIII
Preface Documents of 1629-30
Decree regarding mission appointments in the Indias. Felipe IV;
Madrid, April 6, 1629 Letter from Manila Dominicans to Felipe IV.
Diego Duarte, and others; Manila, May 12, 1629 Letters to Felipe IV.
Juan Niño de Tavora; Cavite, August 1, 1629 Relation of 1629-30.
[Unsigned; Manila, July, 1630] Letters to Felipe IV. Juan Niño de
Tavora; Manila, July 30, and Cavite, August 4, 1630
History of the Augustinian order in the Filipinas Islands (to be
concluded). Juan de Medina, O.S.A.; 1630 [but printed at Manila, 1893]
Bibliographical Data

ILLUSTRATIONS

Monument in Manila to Legazpi and Urdaneta; from a photograph in
possession of the Colegio de Agustinos Filipinos, Valladolid 125 Map
of the Marianas Islands (with large inset of the island of Guam);
photographic facsimile of Bellin's map in Historische Beschryving der
Reizen (Amsterdam, 1758), xvii, p. 6; from copy in library of
Wisconsin Historical Society 135 View of boat of the Ladrone Islands;
from engraving in _Histoire générale des voyages_ (Paris, 1753) xi,
facing p. 171; from copy in the library of Wisconsin Historical Society
139 Exterior of Augustinian church and convent, Manila; from plate in
possession of the Colegio de Agustinos Filipinos, Valladolid 205

PREFACE
The present volume contains but few documents relating to current
affairs in 1629-30, the greater part of its space being occupied with the
Augustinian Medina's history of his order in the Philippines to 1630;
but the annual reports of the governor present an interesting view of the
colony's affairs at that time. As usual, the colonial treasury is but
slenderly provided with the funds necessary for carrying on the
government, and Tavora proposes expedients for obtaining these, and
for utilizing hitherto neglected resources of the country. He has to
contend with hostility on the part of the royal officials, and apathy in
Mexico as to the welfare of the far western colony dependent on it. The
southern Malays are hostile, but thus far have been held in check; and
threatened hostilities with Japan have been averted. Medina's history is
of course largely religious; but it contains considerable mention of
secular events and of social and economic conditions. The length of
this work obliges us to synopsize such matter as is of secondary
importance, and to conclude our translation of it in Vol. XXIV.
A royal decree (April 6, 1629) commands the provincials of the
religious orders in the Spanish colonies to heed the rights of the royal
patronage in making or changing appointments to mission posts. The
leading Dominican officials in Manila write (May 12, 1629) to the king,
informing him that the country is in a ruinous condition from the
piracies of the Dutch, which have also broken up the trade of the

islands. They ask certain favors from the king, and are sending an
envoy to Madrid to discuss their affairs with him.
The annual reports of Governor Tavora (dated August 1, 1629) include
many important matters. As usual, he is embarrassed by lack of funds;
little has been received from Nueva España, and the revenues of the
islands are greatly diminished by the decline in trade. He is
endeavoring to secure what cloves he can from the Moluccas, and
advises that this product be bartered in India, on the royal account, for
supplies needed for the royal magazines in